Cloud computing has ceased being an upcoming trend that techies talked about to becoming a reality that everyone uses in some capacity. Major tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Apple offer cloud computing services for users. The cloud is becoming the new front in the ongoing battle among these tech giants. So what is cloud computing? How do the cloud computing services of Google, Microsoft and Apple differ from one another?

Cloud computing is essentially having your data available for you all the time. The data should be transferable and easily accessible through numerous devices. In reality, however, the cloud can mean a number of services that the user can perform through the internet. Cloud storage is a way for users to upload and access their data through the web. It's like having a hard drive on the internet. For example if you save your documents to Dropbox, you are actually saving it in company's servers. Cloud-based applications on the other hand allow users to access programs that previously needed to be installed on PCs. Google's Docs suite is an example of this cloud-based application.

So why are companies like Google and Microsoft so interested in the cloud? For one thing cloud services are a way for companies to get revenue yearly through paid subscriptions. Unlike the one-time purchase of desktop software, cloud services will lock in users to one service for a long time. Users will have to stick with one service because they wouldn't want to transfer their data from one service to another.

Given the enormous financial rewards of the cloud, Microsoft, Google and Apple are aggressively working on getting users to their version of the cloud. Apple is integrating its iCloud in its iOS 5 system while Microsoft is following suit with its Windows Phone 7 and Windows Live integration. Let's take a look at how each of these three companies is attempting to bring the cloud to users' lives.

Google is perhaps the best suited to take the lead in the cloud wars because it's been doing it longer than Microsoft or Apple. Google actually embodies the essence of the cloud because everything is online. Google doesn't offer hardware; as long as you have a working internet connection you can access Google's services. And there are a lot of services from Google like Gmail, Google Docs and YouTube. Google even has a music service called Google Music Beta that allows users to upload their songs to Google's services in order to stream them through a browser or Android phone. Google's approach to the cloud is more de-centralized than Apple. Each service isn't connected with each other. This scattered approach may make it harder for the mass market to make the jump to cloud.

Apple's approach to the cloud is all about centralization. Apple does everything for the user. Download iOS 5 and the cloud is already integrated in the device. For example if the user purchases music from the iTunes store, the iCloud will download it to the Apple device. Photos are automatically shared on the iCloud, documents edited in iWork are saved in the iCloud, and data is automatically synced across the user's devices. It's fast and easy and user's don't even know it's working. The only downside is that the iCloud only works for Apple devices with iOS 5.

Microsoft's version of the cloud is a mix of the cloud offered by Google and Apple. Like Apple, Microsoft also uses its Skydrive for online storage and syncing across multiple devices. Skydrive will sync with Microsoft Phones and will also automatically save photos taken on the phone to a Skydrive folder. Office Live is a web-based version of the Microsoft Office suite. Microsoft is trying to match its popular Windows desktop software with the cloud. The upcoming Windows 8 software will reflect that drive as it will sync Mail, Calendar, People and Photo apps with online services.